Rainbow Soups: Orange -- Carrot Ginger

As the year flips from 2020 to 2021 a lot of focus is falling to reflection and goal setting; I've been talking about the reflection and relaxation part but I'm starting to move into the goal setting part of the dark half of my year. I've been slowly building up a brain dump list in my bullet journal (I'm probably gonna make a video so if that's something you're interested in let me know and give me that motivation!)

So, in accordance with that, we're looking at an Orange soup: Carrot Ginger! Get that passion burning and your eyes ready to see!

CARROT GINGER SOUP

Ingredients:

3 carrots
1 onion
1tbsp fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic
2cups broth
1tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
to taste salt and pepper

Directions:

I like to roast my carrots before adding them to the soup simply for time sake. You can skip this step and just let them cook in the broth or dice them up and throw em in the pan with the next step for a sweeter soup. So, I rough chopped my carrots and tossed them in a little oil and salt and pepper and roasted them in a 350 oven for 20-30 minutes. they don't have to be perfectly soft because they will cook in the soup but you should be able to get a fork in them.

While those are roasting, dice your onion, garlic and ginger. Heat a little bit of oil in a pan (or the pot you want to use for your soup) and add the onions first. When they become translucent you can add the other two ingredients. Saute until aromatic, basically until you go go, "oh, that smells delicious."

Next will be the broth. If you've done this in your pot simply add the broth and swish around to deglaze. If you did it in a separate pan transfer your veggies to a pot and deglaze with just a little bit of your broth and then put all the broth in the pot.

** pro tip ** deglazing is used toipck up all the carmellized sugars left behind. It is the secret to many flavourful dishes.

** witchy tip ** deglaizng can be used as a visualization for letting things go or digging deeper.

Add your roasted carrots and spices and bring to a boil. Reduce to low heat and let those flavours mingle. Check back in 15 - 20 minutes to see if the carrots are tender. Once they are its time to remove from the heat. Be SAFE and let it cool down. For this step you can do small batches in a blender (it is most important to let it cool down because it will build pressure inside the blender) or and immersion blender.

Blend until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste and you can also adjust the thickness. Going thicker is harder but can be done by adding a little cornstarch or flour to some water and add that, bring it back up to a simmer. To go thinner simply add a little water, broth or cream.

Et voila! I like to garnish with a little parsley for the colour contrast.

To the Metaphysical!

As I said earlier this is often a time of goal setting. This soup is great for that on a general level but also is perfect for what I am focusing on this year. I've chosen the word create as my word of the year (the first time I've ever done this) and this soup carries a vein of creativity in it. While the focus of this is the colour orange and it's traditional meanings lean more toward a generalized goal setting energy I have found I personally associate orange with creativity.

But this is not about only me so lets take a look at the goal setting aspects of this soups correspondences. First we'll delve into the separate ingredients and the colour and then we will put them all together and see what they have in common and what I think this soups power is.

Carrots act to dispel illusions and allow you to see clearly. This helps you to set good (s.m.a.r.t) goals. In addition to this carrots can be associated with the three lower chakras: root because it is a root vegetable, sacral because of its colour and solar plexus again tied to its colour. This means that it will help to ground you and keep you focused on the task at hand, stoke the passion within you and allow your creativity to flow.

Ginger works like cinnamon in the sense that it adds to whatever energy is already present but if your goals center around money this would be an appropriate ingredient to pull on for that as well as stability. I think this is probably a type of goal a lot of people are leaning towards after the odd year we've had.

Orange is the most pertinent here for goal setting as it lends energy of ambition, concentration and success. In addition to this if your goals involve learning this is also a great correspondence for intellectual pursuits.

Overall, the takeaway I have form this recipe is the association with the three lower chakras because I think it means that you can use this for many types of goals. The thing that really popped into my head while compiling this was Maslow's hierarchy of needs because from these three chakras we can pull from almost all levels of that pyramid easily from safety to self expression.

So get to stirring in your intentions and setting those goals. Let me know in the comments below what you've been reflecting on and what you'd like to build in the future!

Overall: Goal setting and working toward your goals from the smallest thing to the biggest (from safety to self expression.) The three lower chakras with an emphasis on sacral (sexual desire and fertility.) grounding, passion, ambition.

Carrot: Mars. Dispel illusions, protection, the three lower chakras, creativity, sexual drive, fertility and ancestral roots.

Ginger: Fire. Mars. Balance, grounding, love, clarity, money, success, power, stability, healing, passion, adds power, add passion to existing

Orange:

-Creativity, focused energy, gentle cleansing, sacral chakra (therefore sexual health and fertility,)
-Ambition, concentration, intellectual pursuits, success, legal issues

Short and Gritty
Ingredients:

3 carrots
1 onion
1tbsp fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic
2cups broth
1tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
to taste salt and pepper

Directions

1. Roast carrots in large chunks tossed in oil salt and pepper
2. Dice and saute onions, garlic and ginger
3. Deglaze with broth
4. Add all to a pot and bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer
5. Boil until all tender about 20 minutes.
6. When tender, cool and blitz with a blender or immersion blender.
7. Adjust flavours and thickness
8. Serve

Techniques of Intention: Kitchen Witchery Basics Part 5

When practicing Kitchen Witchery how exactly do I add my intention? Is it any different from other spellwork? The short answer is no. If you are confident in other parts of your practice then you can probably use what you already know. BUT Kitchen Witchery seems to be a starting point for a lot of people so I've used this series to explain a lot of witchcraft basics with a kitchen focus.

As I mentioned in Part 1 of this series, I want to look over some specific ways to add intention into your work. Keep in mind this is not an exhaustive list and if you don't see your method here I would love to hear abut it in the comments below! I'm going into detail about the methods I use. And I'm doing so with the assumption that you've read the rest of this series so if you have questions about correspondence, intuition or colour magic please check these other posts for more information.

I don't have much left to say so let's get into this list.

Stirring

Simply put, in the kitchen a spoon is like a wand. You can channel your energy through it into the things you stir. Traditionally stirring clockwise brings energies in and counter-clockwise is used to banish. This is the only one on the list that I feel needs to be used with another form because you need to let the energy know what it's being used for. Any method from below or a combination of them will work. The way I add intention is to focus on the type of energy I'm working with, I will visualize a certain colour energy or simply repeat the word or phrase over and over in my head as I stir. In addition to this I will sometimes hold my breath while repeating the word or phrase as a stir 3 times and then with the exhale I allow my energy to flow from my body through the spoon. This breath work I usually reserve for things like string my coffee or tea. With stirring I like to sometimes do a stir both ways, one to banish one type of energy and then the other to put the desired energy back in.

Breath work

Breath work comes in many forms. I used an example above. You can use different patterns of breathing like square breathing or lion's breath. You can hold your breath and let your body generate energy from that restriction and then release. You can send your energy through your hands or a tool as you do it. For instance you can slowly and calmly breath in and out with your hands over your bowl, palm down sending energy through your arms with every breath. You can mix this with visualization to send a specific colour energy. If you’re going the banishing route you can use your inhale instead and suck the unwanted energy out. Keep in mind you also traditionally have a receiving and giving hand in magic (usually dominant is giving and the other is receiving but it depends on your practice) so you can use this to your advantage as well.

Visualization 

This is like what it sounds but with a small caveat that visualization in this sense doesn’t have to only be about the sense of sight. If you feel more connected to sounds then bring a certain sound to mind or scents, tastes or textures. If you’re working on something for cleansing maybe you bring to mind the scent of lemon. Just like anything else we've come up against. Focus your energy on manifesting whatever it is that you feel associated with your intention. I find sight is my most attuned sense so usually use colour magic. I see a certain colour of light surround my ingredients and allow it to seep in as I stir or knead or even just as it rests.


Affirmations, Incantations and Words of Power

“Bibbity bobbity boo,” “Alakazam,” “Double, double, toil and trouble…”

These are examples of incantations or words of power. You can say them out loud or in your mind. It’s a way to focus your intentions without any tools or research at all. Just your words. You can use something short and specific or you can make it more elaborate like in a traditional ritual or spell.

The best tip I’ve been given about affirmations is to use the present tense. I find affirmations best for personal use rather than something your whole family will be enjoying. I use affirmations for my coffee and tea. “I am full of energy,” is a great one for those mornings you need a little quick in the pants.

Another common way to use words of power is to tell your ingredients why they’re being added. As you've seen most ingredients have quite a list of reasons to be used so focus them by saying, “Basil for good luck,” rather than just throwing basil into your pot.

End Thoughts

I hope this has been helpful to you. I think I'm coming to the end of my Kitchen Witchery Basics so if there's something you want me to go into please, please, please do not shy away from asking! You can reach me on Instagram, Facebook, the comments below or through e-mail and you can find all these links in the sidebar.

I have one idea left in mind right now and I will be moving on to a new exposition topic for these post that lack a recipe. I'm flipping back and forth between Cooking Basics and beginning Ingredient Spotlights. so if you have a preference (whether specific or of these two options) let me know; I want to give the readers what they want!

SABBAT SERIES: Yule -- Beef and Squash Stew

Blessed Yule! I know it's a little early but that's kind of the point. I want to make sure you all have a recipe ready to go before the holiday begins. In addition to today's recipe you can check out a few previous recipes that also work for Yule's seasonal foods like Apple Cider, and Hot Chocolate.

So first and foremost, for those or you new to the craft: Yule is the Pagan (and Wiccan) holiday that lands on the Winter Solstice. We honour the returning of the light, the triumph of the Oak King and celebrate new beginnings. We are half way through the dark half of the year which began at Mabon, the fall equinox. As an agricultural holiday (which is often where the traditions for these holidays come from) we are starting to see our stocks dwindle and relish in the idea that we will soon be preparing for new crops. That being said we still have reserves mainly in the form of root vegetables and winter squash and anything we preserved as jams or pickles during our harvest. We may have animals to slaughter or hunters out gathering meats so that isn't out of the question either.

So, a Yule spread may not look so different from a Traditional Christmas spread (and we all know why that is...) Roast vegetables and meat, pickled beets and pumpkin pie? Sound familiar?

I've made a stew today that i will freeze to eat on Yule because I have that luxury that our ancestors did not. Keep an eye on my instagram and Facebook page for the rest of my feast come December 21st.

BEEF STEW with SQUASH

Ingredients:

~1 lbs of stewing beef, cubed (I used some strip steak I had in the freezer but that may not be ideal)
1/2 butternut squash, cubed
1-2 medium sized potatoes, cubed , peeled if desired
1 onion (spanish or yellow)
~1cup beef broth
1-2 tbsp flour
2-3 tbsp oil, separated
1/2 tsp cinnaomn
1 tsp sage
1tsp basil
salt and pepper to taste

I pre roasted my squash because it makes it easier to cut but I feel like that was a mistake so decide to do so at your own risk. It will still taste delicious but I think the squash will hold its form if it cooks by boiling in the gravy. So save your hands or save your aesthetic!

Preheat a pan or your pot over medium heat. Mix together your cinnamon, sage and basil. Season your cubed beef with it as well as sprinkle some salt. You can adjust for taste later so dont worry too much about the amouont.






Start to heat about 1 tbsp of oil in your pan. Put your flour on a plate or bowl ans gently dust each cube of beef in it. Once your beef is dusted we're going to brown it. You don't want to over crowd your pan so if you have to work in small batches that's okay and dont be afraid to add more oil between batches. You want to brown the outsides of the beef without cooking all the way through so cook only until it has colour and then flip browning each piece on all sides. Once it's browned you can set it aside.





Next were going to do the same thing with the veggies. you should work in small amount for these too. I was tired and lazy and did not do this myself so please do as i say and not as the picture tells you. You're going for the same idea here. Add anther tbsp of oil, cube your veggies, season them with salt and pepper, and cook in small batches just until the start to shit colour.

Set your veggies aside. Pour just enough broth in the pan to cover the bottom and use it to loosen all the caramelized goodness from the pan with a wooden spoon. Place all of your cooked ingredients in a pot and fill with broth until it reaches 1/2 to 3/4 of the veggies. This is why i said ~a cup because I didn't actually measure my broth.





Bring everything to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer and cover. Simmer for about 30 minutes stirring occasionally and check the tenderness of your veggies.

The stew is ready when the gravy is thickened and the your vegetables are tender.



Yuletide and Magic

For Yule I wanted to focus on the home and getting through the winter months. Those was a difficult time for our ancestors in a real survival sense and it continues to be a difficult time for many people now. This year even more so with the way the year 2020 has been going. A lot of places are still in the throws of the pandemic and many are not able to see family this year. All the more reason to focus our energy on warmth and success into the new year.

From each of the ingredients below I called upon uses that go along with both traditional survival as well as mental health survival. From squash I asked for protection and longevity, from cinnamon I called for warmth and happiness, from sage I called for wisdom and the guarding of my home and from basil I called for mood elevation, peace and finance.

In addition to these correspondences this combination holds a lot of Fire and Masculine energy leading to warmth and action. I view this as gearing us up for the next Sabbat in which we begin preparing for a new agricultural year. This leads me to a question for those that have been practicing a while and following the Wheel of the Year... When do you celebrate the New Year? I have spoken to many witches on this thought and it seems that in each practice it's a little different and they have answers ranging from Mabon to Imbolc. I'm curious what you do in your practice!

Butternut Squash (similar uses to pumpkin or any other squash): Masculine. Fire. Sun.
Sex, fertility and male potency (because its...shape) protection, warding, longevity, luck, love

Cinnamon Masculine. Fire. Sun and Mars.
Healing, warm, comfy feeling,success, prosperity, happiness, grants power and speed to intention

Sage Masculine. Air. Jupiter. Zeus, the Virgin Mary.
Longevity, protection, wisdom, good luck, guarding the home, and grounding.

Basil - Masculine. Mars. Fire.
Mood elevation and stress relief. Peace, love and finance. Luck and protection especially in travel (both physical and astral/liminal)

Short and Gritty

Ingredients:

~1 lbs of stewing beef, cubed (I used some strip steak I had in the freezer but that may not be ideal)
1/2 butternut squash, cubed
1-2 medium sized potatoes, cubed , peeled if desired
1 onion (Spanish or yellow)
~1cup beef broth
1-2 tbsp flour
2-3 tbsp oil, separated
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp sage
1tsp basil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. cube everything
2. season your beef with cinnamon, basil, sage and salt
3. brown beef, set aside
4. brown vegetables lightly, set aside
5. deglaze pan with a small amount of broth
6. add all cooked ingredient to a pot along with deglazed juices
7. fill pot with broth up to about half way up the veggies
8. bring to boil, reduce to simmer, stir occasionally until thick gravy and tender veggies.
9. serve

Winter Season: Hot Cocoa

There's a blanket of snow on the ground here which means it's definitely time to start whipping up some hot drinks! My favourite winter time hot drink is cocoa (I drink tea all year round do we can't really call that a winter drink :P) This is probably simpler to make than you think it just takes a little love and patience to get it perfect.

As with most of the recipes i share there are so many ways to fancy this recipe up but I'm switching things up! You're gonna have to check out my Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest for those ideas! And you're not going to want to miss out. So check the sidebar for links! Check the comments on this post for link as they become available! (or just go follow me!)

HOT COCOA
yield: 8 oz mug, easily doubled/tripled etc

Ingredients:

1 tbsp Cocoa powder
2 tsp  white sugar
a pinch salt

8oz milk, the higher the fat the tastier but we keep 2% in the house
1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Add your milk and vanilla to a small pot and heat over low-medium heat. You want to be careful not to heat your milk too high or too fast because burnt milk is... disgusting. While it's heating be sure to stir ( i prefer a whisk but any stirring utensil will do) to avoid a skin forming. This is not only unappetizing but can be dangerous if your milk begins to boil under the surface.

While your milk is heating add the dry ingredients to your mug.



This is the important part. You need to add just a little bit of milk and stir to create a thick liquid. The biggest mistake people make is adding all the liquid and getting those unappealing chunks of cocoa throughout their drink. If you add a small amount of liquid to create a thick syrup that liquid and your hot milk will mix together with little issue.

Once your milk has heated to a slight simmer add about half to your mug, stir until combined and then add the rest and stir until combined. Again by working in smaller amounts you get a better handle on how combined and dissolved all of your ingredients are.

You're ready to drink!




On to the witchy stuff!
 

There's really only one important ingredient here (until we start getting fancy that is) and that's chocolate. Before we even get into correspondences a lot of people have strong feelings about chocolate as a comfort food, an aphrodisiac. It's often linked to romance. And those associations align pretty perfectly with chocolate in witchcraft.

We’re working with cocoa and milk so I’m going to focus on milk chocolate. There isn't a huge difference from one variety to another it’s more about intensity. (You can see some extra info in my Muffin recipe) Through my research I found a really fun description! WitchTips describes milk chocolate as the rose quartz of chocolate! And how perfect is that? They’re both very much about soft, gentle love to both yourself and those around you. Self-love is huge aspect of both and that’s what I focused on with this recipe.

As I stirred I pictured a soft pink light surrounding my cup and built up loving energy. You could add in words of affirmation or an incantation if that’s your thing and repeat them out loud or in your head. I do this most times but I was really feeling the energy and didn't want to distract myself. Remember to be direct and speak in the present tense: “I love myself,” “I am loved,” “I am kind to myself,” etc. I also made a cup for everyone in my house infused with the same energy in order to give them a little boost in they’re self love and happiness. It is that time of year when energy begins to dip and the warmth and love from a perfect cup of hot cocoa is sometimes all you need to perk right back up and get on with your dark half of the year goals.

Chocolate: Feminine, Water and Earth, friendship, self-love, nurturing, balance, fun, comfort, raises emotional energy

Short and Gritty
yield: 8 oz mug, easily doubled/tripled etc

Ingredients:

1 tbsp Cocoa powder
2 tsp  white sugar
a pinch salt

8oz milk, the higher the fat the tastier but we keep 2% in the house
1/2 tsp vanilla

Direction:

1. Begin heating milk and vanilla in a pot. don't scald or boil. stir to avoid skin
2. Put dry ingredients in mug with a tbsp or two of milk at any temperature
3. Mix to create a paste/syrup
4. When milk is at a slight simmer add about half to mug
5. Stir to combine
6. Add the rest of the milk and stir to combine.
7. Done

Rainbow Soups: Red -- Tomato Basil

As promised the Rainbow soup series is here beginning with RED. It's that time of year again with snow falling, temperatures chilling, and long, cold nights. It's time to break out the warm, comforting soup, chili and stew recipes to warm our hearts, souls and bodies.

Today's choice, Tomato Basil, pairs perfectly with a grilled cheese sandwich. It's simple but a classic. It's already vegetarian but if you want to make it vegan simply sautee in oil instead of butter.

TOMATO BASIL SOUP

Ingredients:

1/2 onion, minced
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomato
3/4 cup vegetable broth
1 tbsp dried basil
salt and pepper to taste

optional: fresh basil and shredded cheese to garnish

Directions:

A very simple soup to make. Start by mincing your onion and garlic. Heat your pan on medium heat and melt your butter (or warm your oil if you're going vegan style.) Add your onion and sauté until translucent, add you garlic and continue cooking until your onions have a little colour to them.


Add your broth.

** protip ** use your broth to deglaze the pan. When you sauté onions to the point of browning a lot of those caramelized sugars get stuck to the pan. make sure to swish your liquid around to lift those bits because they are filled with flavour. In other recipes (or this one if you're feeling adventurous) left over wine (or a bit from a new bottle you've opened to decant for tonight) is used to do this adding and extra level of flavour. In this recipe you could opt for either red or white.

Bring that quickly to simmer, it wont take long. Add your tomatoes, basil and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. You can adjust taste and consistency from here but that's your soup! Dish it out into bowls and top with shredded cheese, fresh basil or both!

** protip ** if you want to garnish with fresh basil I suggest laying your leaves flat together, rolling them up length wise and slicing to get uniform strands. This makes them easy to sprinkle as well as express the flavour and it will look nicer than whole leaves which will quickly wilt from the heat of the soup.

 
 
Serve with grilled cheese sandwich, bonus points if you make your sandwich with garlic bread!

It's metaphysical time!

So first and foremost I want to follow up with colour magic. This soup is about as primary red as it gets! Of course it isn't the only red soup out there but it is certainly a classic and very easy one at that. I also think that tomatoes themselves lend to the colour red very well as well as adding just a little balance with it's association with water.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. RED. As we talked about before red is associated with courage, passion, love, and sex from a traditional standpoint. I also brought up that, in my practice (as well as many other would agree I think) it is associated with Fire (and therefore has fast, intense energy) and the Root Chakra (where your physical sense of security is held.) So even if we look at nothing beyond its colour this soup packs quite a punch. While brown is traditionally used for magic of the home I think we could make an argument that red is a close second. It serves a slightly different purpose and is more focused on the people within your home and their energy than the home itself but it also works faster so it may serve as a quick fix while you work on something a little more substantial.

As for out actual ingredients I've decided to focus on simply Tomato and Basil. You of course can look into how the other ingredients can assist you in your working (soon I will have a page jsut for this.)

Tomatoes in the mundane world are good for your cardiovascular system (and liver.) It's no surprise then that they would also be associated with everything metaphorically associated with the heart, namely love and passion. And of course with this they are tied to the planet Venus and the Greek deities Aphrodite and Hera. Although I didn't find this anywhere in my research, for an element i would associate them with water due to their emotional nature as well as being associated with so much Feminine energy. This is where that balance that i mentioned before comes in. Despite tomatoes being the colour of fire they hold the energy of water, masculine and feminine, yin and yang. If we apply this to the fast acting home magic this may be the best red option you have as you can use it to bring the energy in any direction. If you find everyone's energy is heightened and on edge you can bring it down and ground it but also if everyone is feeling a little down you can raise the energy. Even better is if you have a mix of energies you can bring them all back to the middle.

(I just realized that they could easily be associated with a more physical cleansing tied in with their help in liver function!)

Basil lends itself to this idea very well as it is both a stress reliever and mood elevator. It really just cements the idea of balance when used in addition to tomatoes. Of course it also adds a layer of 

protection as well and that's always a happy addition when were talking about our family's well-being.

Tomato Basil Soup

Overall- Fire: speed and power. A balance of yin and yang. Courage. Protection. Blood health. Love.

Red - Root Chakra: physical security and grounding. Fire: speed and power.
Sex, love and desire. Courage.

Tomato - Venus. Aphrodite and Hera. Feminine. Protection and revolution.
Health of cardiovascular system and liver.

Basil - Mars. Fire. Masculine.
Mood elevation and stress relief. Peace, love and finance. Luck and protection especially in travel (both physical and astral/liminal)

Short and Gritty

Ingredients:

1/2 onion, minced
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomato
3/4 cup vegetable broth
1 tbsp dried basil
salt and pepper to taste

optional: fresh basil and shredded cheese to garnish

Directions:

1. Sauté onion, add garlic when onion is translucent, continue until light browning
2. Deglaze with broth
3. add tomatoes and spices
4. bring to boil
5. garnish (optional) and serve

Flapjacks! Pancakes! Griddlecakes!

I know this is a cooking blog but this week was quite a week for me on a personal level and I thought I'd share! I got engaged this weekend! I already knew I'd be spending the rest of my life with him but I'm very happy to have made it official! I can't wait for this new chapter and journey to begin! Now that I have that out of the way my birthday was this week too! So, for that I made one of my favourite dinners ever... BREAKFAST! Or brinner as the ladies (if you know you know) would call it.

I'm not going to go through the whole thing but I am going to give you a pancake recipe. I used to be a master of pancakes with pancake mix but I've been trying to do much more from scratch than I used to. I still haven't quite mastered the pancake but these were still delicious. I'll have to have my little sister as a guest writer to try to figure out what we do differently!

Of course this is another one of those recipes that you can add your own spin to with fruit, chocolate and spices. The only thing I did extra was add cinnamon because I can't get enough!

FLAP JACKS

Ingredients:
1 cup AP Flour
2tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
optional, a sprinkling

1 cup milk
1 lrg egg
2 tbsp oil, (or butter, melted)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:





Mix dry ingredients in one bowl and wet in another.







Get your pan pre-heating to a medium heat and grease with a little oil. This part is super important because if your pan isn't hot you will end up with under-cooked or burned pancakes!

** pro tip ** have an oven proof container/ sheet pan for your done pancakes and keep them in the oven (turned off) to keep them warm.

You'll know your pan is hot enough if you can sprinkle some water on it and it sizzles away quickly.






Once your pan is hot enough whisk your ingredients together just until moist. A few small lumps is okay. If you need to thicken or thin you batter add a little flour or water (very small amounts until you are happy)






Using a measuring cup or ladle spoon equal amounts of batter onto the pan. Aim for about a 1/4 to a 1/3 cup for size.

Cooking pancakes is a waiting and watching game. You will see bubbles begin to form across the top of the pancake then you will see a little bit of smoke coming off the edges. When you see that smoke it's time to flip! No you are looking for the pancake to rise. When it stops rising wait about 45 second longer and it will be ready. You can double check this by flipping it and poking it. If it feels squishy you didn't wait long enough. You're looking for soft. Almost every batch the first pancake will be a dud, this is something we know to be true and its nothing to feel bad about if it happens to you. It usually means you need to adjust your temperature. If you followed my steps above and you burned it, turn your temperature down; if it took an inordinate amount of time and still has that squishy feeling turn it up. Eventually you will learn how your specific stove and pans work together and there will be less duds going forward.

** pro tip ** keep your bowl of batter as far away from the stove as you can to avoid heating the batter. I had a very small kitchen growing up and I remember having to adjust the batter with water as I went because the heat would thicken it while I cooked the first pancakes.

If your pan is large enough and you feel comfortable watching multiple pancakes, go for it!

And so there you have it! Flapjacks (or pancakes if yours turned out better than mine!)

 
On to the metaphysical!

There are only a few ingredients here that hold any meaning or purpose for me. Eggs (mainly for protection,) Cinnamon (mainly for its boosting power this time around,) and Vanilla. Obviously every ingredient holds it's own power and correspondences they just weren't the focus for me with this recipe.

I want to home in on Vanilla because we've talked about cinnamon about a million times already and eggs certainly aren't the star of the show in this recipe (although they definitely lend their power to my intentions in this case.) On a personal level vanilla gives me very down-to-earth, happy home vibes. When I think about the smell of vanilla I am reminded of the sweet smell of shortbread cookies baking in my Nana's oven. While I use vanilla year round it always reminds me of the holidays and family gatherings.

Traditionally vanilla is associated with love and mental clarity/power, (as well as the usual shopping list of correspondences you can find below.) As far as the love aspect goes it is much more on the physical side of things, not quite lust but more seduction. It's subtle. The mental clarity aspect, I believe, comes from its calming, soothing effect. By allowing your mind to calm it becomes clearer and more ready to lend itslef to a more complex and spiritual task.

Vanilla: Venus, feminine, water, calming, consoling, soothing, vitalizes energy, promotes a happy and healthy environment, attracts good fortune, enhances mental stimulation, used in spells to enhance physical energy.

All in all this recipe was really about bringing good vibes into my home. With the aroma of cinnamon and vanilla wafting through the house it definitely brought about a certain calm and loving atmosphere.

What is your go to ingredient or recipe that makes you think of home?

Short and Gritty
Ingredients:
1 cup AP Flour
2tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
optional, a sprinkling

1 cup milk
1 lrg egg
2 tbsp oil, (or butter, melted)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
1. mix wet and dry ingredients in separate bowls
2. heat skillet and lightly grease
3. when skillet is hot mix dry into wet just until moist
4. sccoop batter into skillet in 1/4 cup amounts
5. watch for slight smoke at edges, flip
6. watch for it to stop rising, wait 45 seconds, done

Colour Magic: Kitchen Witchery Basics Part 4

So now that we understand correspondences and intuition and all that jazz let's get into some more specific stuff. I’m going to start doing ingredient spotlights soon but I thought I would start with something that can be applied across the board, colour magic.

This often applies to other parts of your magic workings like candle colour or ink colour but it can just as easily be applied to kitchen witchery in my opinion. Whether it’s the colour of your ingredients or you add a little food colouring to your icing you can intentionally choose colours that match your goals. Use these correspondences the way you would any other. If you dont want to add them to your dish you can even just burn a candle the corresponding colour with the intention of fusing with your cooking.

I think it’s important to remind you that correspondences can be personalized just like you may associate a specific taste or scent with love or cleansing; you may associate colours differently than the traditional meanings as well. So take some time to yourself and think about what colours mean to you. What emotions do they evoke? Is there a specific memory tied to them? Do they remind you of a planet or deity? How do you think society or the witchy community view them? When you're done you can look below and see the traditional meanings as well as my own personal associations. See what you know to be intuitively right and also see what your personal gnosis** is.

** Unverified personal gnosis (often abbreviated UPG) is the phenomenological concept that an individual`s spiritual insights (or gnosis) may be valid for them without being generalizable to the experience of others. It is primarily a neologism used in polytheistic reconstructionism, to differentiate it from ancient sources of spiritual practices. (from: https://www.encyclo.co.uk/)

Colour Correspondences
The first line will be my personal associations and the second will be the generally agreed upon traditions.

Red:
- Passion (negative or positive, anger or desire/lust,) Mars and Mercury, Fire, blood and heart, Root chakra (therefore grounding,) ancestors
- courage, passion, love, sex, fast action

Orange:
-Creativity, focused energy, gentle cleansing, sacral chakra (therefore sexual health and fertility,)
-Ambition, concentration, intellectual pursuits, success, legal issues

Yellow:
-Happiness, gentle energy, refreshing, lightness, the Sun, Jupiter, solar chakra (therefore self identity)
-Attractiveness, clarity, happiness, travel

Green:
-Physical health, prosperity, abundance, growth, Green witch, Venus, Jupiter, Earth, heart chakra (therefore relationships, especially familial and platonic)
-Growth, fertility, harmony, health, prosperity, wealth

Blue:
-Calm, centering, meditation, Sea witch, Pluto, Water, mental/emotional health, throat chakra (therefore self expression)
-Dream work, healing, intuition, loyalty, peace, spirituality

Purple:
-Spiritual health and connection, other planes, manifesting, Hedge witch, Uranus, third eye and crown chakras (therefore divination, sight and spiritual connection/your higher self)
-Higher self, communing with higher beings, meditation, psychic ability and development

Pink:
-Love, self love, intimacy, fertility, acceptance, memory, the brain
-Beauty, compassion, femininity, partnerships, romance, innocent love

Brown:
-Grounding, homelife, strength, slow and steady, Cottage witch, Saturn, Earth
-Abundance, family, friends, grounding, pets, stability

Black:
-Protection, banish, afterlife, divination (specifically scrying,) New Moon, ends and beginnings/cycles (think Death card/ Wheel of Fortune)
-Absorbing energy, banishing, breaking habits and hexes etc, protection, self defense
Grey:
-Balance, Grey witch,
-“Invisibility,” passing unnoticed or blending in, shielding, loneliness, neutralizing energy, wisdom

White:
-Cleansing, all purpose (blank slate,) charging, Full Moon
-All purpose, cleansing, purification, truth, reflecting energy

As an extra slice of fun, I’ll be starting a series of soups that I’ve had rolling around in my head for YEARS! It was originally going to be part of a recipe book but I never pursued that idea. It’s going to be soups based on the colours of the rainbow! Now that it is getting colder I feel like it's the perfect time to start. So stick around for that in the coming few months!

Let me know in the comments how your personal associations compare to mine and the traditions!

Autumn: Pumpkin Loaf

I am a HUGE fan of loaves. I love afternoon tea with a slice or two of a sweet bread. Cookies are great but for some reason loaf just hits different. Not to mention all the variety! First of the loaf itself but then also with additives like fruit and nuts, spreads and glazes! I went seasonal with today's loaf but stay tuned for more as we get into the colder months and I consume even more tea than I already do!

PUMKPIN LOAF

Ingredients:

1 2/3 cup flour
1 cup (if you like it sweet the original calls for 1 1/2)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves

2 large eggs
1 cup pumpkin
1/2 cup oil
1/3 cup water (1/2 cup if you want to add raisins or other dry ingredients)

1/2 cup walnuts

Optional:toasted pumpkin seeds, raisins, craisins, pecans etc.

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350.

**pro tip** this is important because once the baking soda and baking powder get wet they begin to react and you want to be able to get it in the oven quick.

Whisk together all you dry ingredients (expect nuts or fruits) in one bowl.

Whisk all your wet ingredients in a second bowl.








Add the dry ingredients to your wet ingredients and mix well.

Gently fold in any bits and bobs (nuts or dried fruit of you choice), for me it's walnuts but feel free to get creative.







Pour into a greased 9x5 pan ( I think mine is actually a little smaller than that but it worked just fine) and pop into your preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes or until cooked through (an inserted toothpick comes out clean.)

** pro tip ** while writing this I realized it would also be a good idea to top the loaf with some toasted pumpkin seeds so try that out and let me know how it goes!

Allow it to cool for 10 minutes in the pan before transferring it to a cooling rack to cool completely.

 
 
Brew a cup of tea, slice yourself off a generous slice and enjoy your hard work.

Pumpkins are very magical especially around this time of year. Just because Samhain is over doesn't mean we have to stop using pumpkins in our magic. It's the dark half of the year and pumpkins are all about the mysterious, the unknown, the dark, and all kinds of magic. This time of year they mostly lend to us extra power toward protection and divination but of course have other ways they can be used (and used all year long especially if you have dried seeds from your pumpkin carvings!)

With a thin veil and the extra power of spirit it makes it easier for us to access the other side but that also means it's easier for the other side to access ours. Pumpkins allow us the perfect balance of protection and divination/ astral travel boost.

In addition to pumpkins in this recipe we have walnuts, cloves, nutmeg and out good pal cinnamon. We’ve seen these spices before so I won't dwell on them too long but you know they lend themselves to both protection and divination as well.

Now how exactly do you use this recipe to harness the energies of protection and clairvoyance? Add your intentions the way you would any other time but in addition to that as the smell of baked pumpkin fills your kitchen and the rest of your home visualize it pushing out any unwanted, low vibration, or evil entities. Once your house is filled (and once the loaf is safely out of the oven) focus on the scent as you meditate and home those abilities into whatever divination you do afterwards (or during) whether it be throwing runes, pulling cards or speaking with your guides/ancestors.

Full Correspondence List:

Walnuts: Zeus, Jupiter and Thor. Earth. Protection and prosperity. (there are a lot more correspondences to the wood than to the fruit)

Pumpkin: Lunar deities. Hekate and Oshun. Attract high vibrations, positive, protection, charms, divination, Fae work, glamors, spirit work, visions, warding, astral travel, mind opening, home, happiness, harmony, luck
Fruit- Protection divination banishing prosperity
Seeds- fertility, abundance, wealth, love, prosperity, good luck

Cinnamon: spirituality, success, healing, adds energy, protection, prosperity, good luck, love, happiness, money, enhance the male libido

Nutmeg: wealth, luck, love, divination, money drawing, health, fidelity, clairvoyance, encourage visions

Cloves: Protection, clarity, banishing evil, love, stopping gossip, money, clairvoyance, keep good friends close, good luck, prosperity exorcism, purification

Short and Gritty

Ingredients:

1 2/3 cup flour
1 cup (if you like it sweet the original calls for 1 1/2)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves

2 large eggs
1 cup pumpkin
1/2 cup oil
1/3 cup water (1/2 cup if you want to add raisins or other dry ingredients)

1/2 cup walnuts

Optional:toasted pumpkin seeds.

Directions:

1.Preheat your oven to 350.
2.Whisk together all you dry ingredients (expect nuts or fruits) in one bowl.
3.Whisk all your wet ingredients in a second bowl.
4.Add the dry ingredients to your wet ingredients and mix well.
5.Gently fold in walnuts
6.Pour into a greased 9x5 pan and pop into your preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes or until cooked through (an inserted toothpick comes out clean.)
7.Allow it to cool for 10 minutes in the pan before transferring it to a cooling rack to cool completely.

DOUGH!: "Thanks, it has Pockets"

For all those out there that regularly wear women's clothing we know the struggle with pockets; or rather lack thereof. So what we don't get in our clothes we ca make up for in out food! Who doesn't love a great pizza pocket/ calzone deal?

I made pizza flavoured pockets this time around but I have a few other favourites that I like to use as filling. Check out my suggestions below the recipe to get those creative juices flowing!

This recipe starts with our trusty dough recipe. If you haven't seen this before check it out here. Or if you only need a refresher you'll find the Short and Gritty version just below. A single batch can make between 3 and 5 pockets depending on how big you go. In the recipe below I used a half batch and got two good sized pockets. They could have been accompanied by something light like a salad but were filling on their own. So use that as a guide for how many people you are feeding.

Dough Review

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups Flour
1 tsp Salt

2 1/2 tsp Yeast
1 1/2 tsp Sugar

2 tbsp Oil
1 cup Warm water

Directions:

1. Mix first two ingredients.
2a. If you're using active cry yeast include the next two ingredients.
2b. If you're using traditional yeast mix last four ingredients together and let sit for 10 minutes.
3. Add wet to dry, mix in the bowl until it comes together into a ball.
4. Turn out onto floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes adding small amounts of flour when it becomes too sticky.
5. Place in greased loaf pan and cover with a clean tea towel. Allow to rise for 40 minutes and then begin preheating your oven to 350.

POCKETS

Ingredients:

1/2 batch Dough
~1/4 cup pizza sauce
    or crushed tomatoes with 1 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp basil, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper
~ 1 1/2 cup of your favourite pizza toppings
    I used- mushrooms, olives, pepperoni, green pepper, red onion and garlic
1/2 cup shredded cheese of your choice, mozzarella always recommended
1 egg

Directions:

Start by making your dough. separate into equal sized balls the number of pockets you wish to make. Allow to proof for 40 minutes to an hour.




Preheat your oven to 360. On a lightly floured surface roll your dough balls out flat with a rolling pin to an 1/8 inch thickness. Cover in sauce leaving room at the edge to close them up later.











Now it's toppings time. You're going to place all your toppings on only half of your dough circle. I like to put half of my cheese down now and half after the rest of the toppings are placed. It helps keep the ingredients together inside the pocket.












After you've piled your toppings high. Fold the empty half over and use a fork to seal the edge closed.










Transfer them to a lightly greased baking sheet. Beat your egg and brush it over your pockets. While with most other recipes I say you can take or leave the wash I think it's particularly important for the pockets. I've tried it both ways and I am never satisfied without it.

Bake for 22 minutes or until golden brown.


And there you have it; your very own pocket!

While the ingredients you see here are very "traditional" pizza/calzone toppings we all know pizzerias have branched out into some pretty creative things so there is nothing stopping us from trying something new!

Pulled Chicken BBQ
    Chicken (pulled and tossed in BBQ sauce), red onion, and green pepper

Chicken Alfredo
    Chicken chunks, Alfredo sauce and Parmesan

Southwest
    Chipotle sauce, ranch, ground beef, corn, green onion and tomato.
    
I wan tot know what your favourite pizza toppings and pocket fillings are! tell me in the comments below or tag me in a picture on Instagram!

As for the metaphysical I think the best advice I can give you is how to put intention into the pockets since everyone's favourites are different. As you place each item state your intention or the energy you want from that ingredient and then as you press the edges together restate and/or visualize your intentions and what you plan to manifest. The heat of the oven will then release your intentions into the universe.

Short and Gritty

Ingredients:

1/2 batch Dough
~1/4 cup pizza sauce
    or crushed tomatoes with 1 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp basil, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper
~ 1 1/2 cup of your favourite pizza toppings
    I used- mushrooms, olives, pepperoni, green pepper, red onion and garlic
1/2 cup shredded cheese of your choice, mozzarella always recommended
1 egg

Directions:

1. dough baby, let proof separated into ball shapes
2. lightly flour surface, turn out and flatten with a rolling pin
3. sauce it. pile your toppings on one half
4. fold and seal with a  fork
5. egg wash it and bake at 350 for 20 minutes